It’s sounding like an Election Year!!

Route being finalized for eastside bypass

“Once it’s done it and the South Boundary Road, which is under construction this year, will start to drain truck traffic out of the downtown,” said Mayor Doug Craig. – Mathew McCarthy

Work on the long-awaited east boundary road around Cambridge inched a little closer to fruition recently as the Region of Waterloo staged its final public open house as part of the Environmental Assessment (EA) study for the project.

The proposed east-side bypass has been in the works for more than two decades, but it hasn’t been until recent months that city and regional officials have been able to work out the exact path of the road with various provincial ministries that would link Dundas Street, east of Branchton Road to Townline Road in the vicinity of Avenue Road.

Various routes had been considered over the years, but city engineer James Etienne says the preferred route “is within the City of Cambridge.”

Coun. Frank Monteiro sits on the project’s steering committee and says working out the details of the preferred route hasn’t been easy.

“There have been six different levels of government involved, so it was difficult to come to a consensus,” he said.

On Feb. 1 the region hosted the final public information centre of the EA study, Monteiro said.

“It went well,” he said. “Everyone was on side with what was being proposed.”

Route B4 is the preferred option. It starts near the city limits with North Dumfries on Dundas Street south and would link in with the new south boundary road linking Water Street/ Highway 24 with Dundas Street South. The route then heads north skirting several proposed subdivisions before crossing Main Street between Franklin Boulevard and the Shellard Sideroad.

The route continues north around the Cambridge landfill, crossing Clyde Road east of the CP rail line and runs across the east end of the Shade’s Mills conservation area, skirts another subdivision after crossing Mill Creek and then joins Townline Road.

In the wake of the public meeting, the project’s steering committee will gather the comments until Feb. 5 and consider them as a final report and recommendation is developed for regional council’s planning and works committee. If approved by regional council, the finalized environmental study report will be filed with the province and undergo a further 30-day public review. If there are no objections, the project will be approved by the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change.

Should all the approvals fall into place later this year, Monteiro said the push will be on by Cambridge’s regional councillors to see the project included in the region’s 10-year capital budget.

“Right now there is nothing in the capital budget. This road has to be done as soon as possible. It’s a big project, so it will have to be done in phases, but we’ve got get going on this,” he said.

Development in southeast Cambridge has been stymied for almost a decade as the route of the new road is sorted out.

“Once approved, development in that area is going to go,” Monteiro said. “And once that road is built it’s going to take a lot of traffic away from downtown (Galt).”

Mayor Doug Craig agrees.

“Once it’s done it and the South Boundary Road, which is under construction this year, will start to drain truck traffic out of the downtown,” he said. “The way it is being set up it would become a true bypass around the east side of the city.”

15 Responses to It’s sounding like an Election Year!!

Empty Pockets February 11, 2018 at 12:08 pm

Sounds like this City has an endless supply of money…I wonder where they are getting it..oh wait a minute…it’s coming out of my pocketbook..Let’s think about some of the ways our money was spent….hmm..first..the walking bridge across the Grand River..gee how much did that cost us..oh right we were told that came out of hydro funds and it didn’t cost us anything. (If you believe that I have a bridge to see you…and I believe it might be over the Grand River)..next we overpaid for the Library..oh and how much over budget is that?? Then there was the purchase of the Red Cross building that the City does not know what to do with it..oh and THEN AND THEN…WAIT FOR IT!!
$48000. FOR A CAMBRIDGE SIGN that is erected in the downtown core..AND IT EVEN CHANGES COLOUR…oh we really need that…so you wonder why I think we need new blood on Council?? We need some people that WORK FOR A LIVING…Not TEACHERS AND COPS with BIG Pensions…It’s Time this City gets SHORT ARMS when it comes to digging into my POCKETBOOK!!!

Definitely an Election year. So where has the Mayor been on this for all his long terms??? I know spending money on dumb useless stuff as Empty Pockets pointed out. This Bypass should have/could have been put in years ago & it is the same as the Go Train. Why do our people that are to look after these important issues are always sleeping & behind the eight ball?
Yes an election is coming. Be ready for all the lies & crap$$
Know who you are voting for & what they stand for & how they have made their living – in easy overpaid jobs or jobs that had substance where they had to think & earn a living. Enough of these overpaid pension people on Council.
PAY ATTENTION VOTERS – VOTE PAPER BALLOTS ONLY – BUT VOTE! Need new blood!

That sneaky Doug Craig is beginning to come out of the woodwork trying to claim credit for everything that is going on in Cambridge. Well, we have had 12 years of Doug Craig and where is the City of Cambridge? Nowhere!

No, Go Train, No revitalized Downtown Galt, No public Tennis Courts, and too many roundabouts which few people like. Doug Craig wastes money on bridges and city signs.

Then Doug Craig tries to take credit for the construction of roadways constructed by the Region of Waterloo.

Over the next 8 months, I will be all over Doug Craig for anything he says which we know is untrue or just pie in the sky “Bullshit”.

Doug Craig and his minions need to think of the TAXPAYER who has to foot the bill for all the things he wants to spend our money on that we don’t need at this time.
It’s time WE TAKE A STAND AND SAY NO MORE! I want to be able to live in my home and not have to wonder when I will be out on the street begging for money.
These people need to know that THE WELL IS GOING DRY… Pensions and lower income families just cannot do it.
Let’s make our feelings known on OCTOBER 22

Wow – welcome aboard Vincent. We need a few thousand other people like you!
Yes our Mayor likes to give us what we don’t need & not do the job he is paying to do.
Exactly – no Go Train – he keeps allowing construction of far too many homes – too many people – no bypass around Cambridge & no people movement. How bright is this?? His belt must be falling apart – all those notches in it$$$$
Vincent – make sure you pass the word around to Voters in Cambridge. We need change – the Mayor & the over-pensioned Councillors.
Yes a City our size & no in-door “Tennis Courts” – shame shame! Guess Mayor doesn’t play Tennis. Has no clue what is really needed in Cambridge.
See you at the Council meeting on Feb. 20th – wear your “No Bullying Pink Shirt” – our Mayor is a Bully – “do as I say or you are out”. People like their jobs to pay the high tax rate in Cambridge & nothing to show for it.
Also we are trying to find out if our Pride sign Co. in town got the contract for the expensive sign that no one will see.

Empty Pockets. Money. The puppets have plenty for Galt, but not Preston and Hespeler. Once the 2 ex-cops go through the court case I believe they will be done in politics. The 2 ex-teachers could follow. Pam may get her legal folks to write her new election speech. She somehow (who’s the cop!) got off the DUI having had around 7 or? glasses of wine so said the prosecutor. Then again knowing the breath tester as someone did helps. You have to wonder how come regular people don’t trust the system or most politicians. The slogan for this summer will be no more cops or teachers on council! Dyke must go as well. His massive pay hike and attitude are not a good fit. So what has our mayor and Dyke done since the great drug clean-up speech? No one seems to know. Where the heck has the wanna be mayor Carl Kiefer been this term? Sure hasn’t been in Preston during the road mess. Now he’s in a mess with this police lawsuit case. Hidden ballot to put him on the board has backfired. Many call Carl a fence sitter, media seeker, and old boys club patron. I however like Carl. I would invite him hunting or fishing anytime. I remember when he began in politics and he enthusiastic. Can anyone think of anything Jowlett has done on regional council as well. Time for these 2 to go the way of the Buffalo. Did I leave anyone out? Have a good day.

I hope all of Cambridge will get out there and vote. I do think it is time for a new mayor. I voted for him last time, silly me. Won’t be fooled twice. Sorry I moved to this mismanaged city. Taxes! Taxes & higher taxes for mismanagement.

poperingo – yes we have one indoor court in Hespeler. Right now it is closed – looks like some issues. Not sure what is happening.
And again no support from the City to keep people active.
A group tried to get one going – but little support from Mayor/Council – guess they don’t play Tennis – just golf – for the elite$$
Come out to Council meetings & see how they spend your money – this new sign for $48,000./77,400.? Did our Cambridge company get the job??? Or did the City hand it out to an outside company?? People need to know what is going on & where their Tax dollars are going – oh right – to Galt. 1 1/4 Million on the BRIDGE TO NOWHERE$$
VOTE 2018 ON PAPER BALLOTS OR YOUR VOTE WON’T GO WHERE YOU WANT IT TO GO TO$$$

I don’t play tennis or golf but somehow stay active. I walk year round and ride a bike in the summer, and I was raised to not to rely on the government for everything. I was taught that you find things to do yourself and not wait for someone else to do it. I know how they spend my money, unlike some I find out the answers before ranting and raving.

Let’s build a class house around a historical building in Hespeler. Let’s build a Glass house for a city Hall. Let’s build a $766 million dollar court house in Kitchener, Let’s build a bridge, that has two bridges on either side of it 75 yards away,that leads to nowhere. Nobody from downtown Galt, can afford to go to the Dunfield Theatre, it’s low income and homeless people living in a fentanyl village. let’s build a sign, that says, Cambridge, gee thanks Doug, I always wanted to know what town I lived in. Those who build glass houses, should throw stones of useless spending around.

Living in any area other than Galt is frustrating as a taxpayer. The mayor has created downtown Galt as the center of this city by putting all his pet projects there with our tax dollars. With all the money spent on his downtown projects the stores continue to suffer. Some have made a go of it but continue to be plagued with trouble people that keep families away. When store owners have to wash their business walk ways with bleach in the mornings because of human waste left, there is a big problem. We have a good city but need the cash flow to even out.

And now for the ‘I TOLD YOU SO’ There is an on the front page of The Record February 15 which states ‘Global Cyber Attack Hit Municipal Website.’
Last year there were a number of signs made up and people were in front of City Hall making people aware that they should not use ELECTRONIC VOTING .
A DELEGATE got up before council and made the point that Electronic Voting can be hacked. It was a good presentation and when the presentation was over, one Councillor said that he didn’t think PUTIN would hack our election…Come on now..this article just proves that it can be done..another Councillor went before the local News and stated…I VOTED FOR ELECTRONIC VOTING BECAUSE STAFF RECOMMENDED IT… Come on now..after other members of Council even stated that the system was not safe YOU VOTE LIKE THAT???
No matter WHAT THIS CITY TRIES TO TELL US…THERE IS NO GUARANTEE THAT ELECTRONIC VOTING IS SECURE
SO DO NOT I REPEAT DO NOT VOTE ELECTRONICALLY ON OCTOBER 22…Let’s send a Message to the City…WE ARE SMARTER THAN THEY AR!!